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I saw a really cool video on Alwyn Cosgrove’s blog today, it really makes you think about the excuses that you make and why you make them.

Honestly, you can make excuses about anything. It doesn’t matter what it is, you can always come up with an excuse not to do something. I know that if I really want to progress and reach my goals, I have to stop making excuses and find the reason to make things happen. It’s a lesson that I think we all need to keep learning over and over again.

Here’s the video:

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Well, if you were waiting for the last minute to set your resolutions for 2008, this is it! I’m a big believer that if you’re going to set a New Year’s Resolution you need to do it before the New Year, that way you can start the year off with that goal in mind. I know that sounds like a simple idea, but I wonder sometimes how many people wait until the 5th to set their Resolutions.

My wife and I were talking about this last night and are going to break our fitness resolution up into different goals for the quarter, with the overall theme of being more active this year. My personal goal is to get in the best shape of my life, but that is also broken up into smaller, quarterly goals to achieve more specific, measurable things. “Getting in the best shape of my life” isn’t really a goal in itself, but its the theme that I’m setting for this year.

So for the first quarterly goal my wife and I are going off candy and desserts. We are allowing limited portions when its a family party or something like that, but we won’t be buying that stuff for ourselves. What are your plans for the New Year?

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I read an interesting article in Newsweek the other day called Why Women Lose Weight—or Don’t. One thing that I found very interesting about this article was that when people normally hang out with overweight people, they tend to gain weight. When people hang out with healthy people, they tend to be more healthy as well. It’s amazing the effect that your circle of friends and acquaintances can have on you!

The article suggests that the reason this happens is because when you hang out with either group, you start to consider what you see to be normal. So if you consistently hang out with people that are overweight, you may start to see this as normal and accept it and become it.

So what does this mean to you? Well, it may explain some habits! We tend to have similar habits as those we spend the most time with. This is something to keep in mind if you’re trying to make changes. Part of you is going to be honestly sincere in the desire to change. But another part of you is going to be very resistant to this change. Does this mean you need to run out and change friends? Probably not. But you’ll have to be more aware of the habits that you have accepted and really be disciplined to make changes.

Recognize that habitual voice for what it is. Then make the conscious decision that you are making other choices now. This takes some work, but if you keep working at it you’ll get the hang of it.

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It’s that time of year again. Time to start thinking about what you want to achieve in 2008. Personally I’m a believer in setting goals year round, but it seems that New Years is always a good time to at least evaluate what you have accomplished in the last year. Its a great time for planning.

So fill in the blank: In 2008 I will _____. What is your goal going to be for the next year?

• Lose x number of pounds?
• Fit into a certain size of pants/dress?
• Gain x number of pounds?
• Increase your 1RM on the bench by x pounds?

It’s important to have a goal. Decide what a main goal might be for the year, then break it up into measurable chunks. This will give you a great jump start on 2008. Then get to work as soon as you can to meet that goal!

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I think this is a really cool idea - not just to see but to do also! What happened is this guy named Adam Waters set a goal to lose a certain amount of weight in 84 days. So he started his plan, and took a picture of himself every day for those 84 days. Then, to make himself accountable to the world, he posted that picture on his blog every single day. You’ve got to see the results, it is quite impressive (I’ll provide a link below).

How dedicated are you to losing weight, gaining muscle, or whatever goal you’re trying to achieve? Adam showed some real dedication by doing this. Now, is doing this type of thing something that everyone should do…well, I don’t know. I think that a lot of people could really benefit from making their goals a little more public. That way you know that people are going to wonder what you’re up to. It sort of puts you in a position where you have to succeed, or face the humiliation of not doing it.

So should everyone do it? I think that’s a question that everyone should ask themselves on a personal level. So instead, the question would be should you do it? Would it help you to reach your goals?

Here’s a link to Adam’s blog: RTP-Blog

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I was just thinking the other day about something. What if you had a very tough schedule and were having a hard time finding time to go to the gym at all? But let’s say that you had time to go one time a week. What would you focus on?

Well, take it for what it’s worth, but my opinion is you should focus most of your time at the gym one the Big 3 Lifts. Just a reminder, the Big 3 are the Squat, Deadlift, and Bench Press. These are the three best compound lifts that will help to build mass.

Another thing I’d like to mention is that if you’re in a situation where you have very little time to workout, and can only make it to the gym once a week, don’t waste the rest of the week. How long does it really take to drop to the floor and do some pushups or situps? You can find plenty of excuses not to get any exercise, or you could find plenty of ways to at least get a little bit of exercise.

You take your pick of what you want to do, but I think it comes down to self discipline and making yourself do some things that you don’t really want to do. If you have time to watch TV, you have time to do some pushups. If giving up TV is too hard for you, do some pushups during the commercials! If you really want to achieve lifetime fitness, you’re going to have to make some changes!

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Along the same lines of the last post, I want to take a minute and talk about the importance of staying positive. Yes, life will continue to happen. Sometimes other priorities will come up in life that may keep you from exercising as much as you would like to. For example, in the last few weeks my family moved into a new place. So between all of the moving, painting, and unpacking that we’ve been doing it hasn’t left much time for exercise, or even the best nutrition.

The way I look at it, I have to options at this point:

1- Get down on myself and feel like a loser for not making myself workout despite the circumstances

2- Realize that I had other priorities (my family, which is always a top priority), be happy about that, and get back on track as soon as possible.

I’m choosing option number 2. The question to ask yourself is which one would your normally choose if you didn’t have to think about it? Sadly, I think a lot of us subconsciously would go with option number 1. So if you find yourself getting frustrated that life is taking it’s toll and getting in the way of your lifetime fitness goals, you may need to think about these two options again.

There are times in your life where you are going to have to go into more of a “just maintain” phase. For example, if you are a woman and you are going to be having a baby soon, your main priority probably shouldn’t be losing a ton of weight and toning up. You would make some life situation changes. And husbands, when the baby is born you may have to make a few changes to support your wife in caring for the newborn.

Life will happen. Just do your best to keep moving towards a goal. A great statement I heard was that you should place your goals or the ultimate outcome you want in stone, but the plan to get there will have to be in sand. This just means that you’re still working on getting to the goal, you just might have to wash away your plan from time to time on how you’re going to do it.

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I get so tired of hearing ads like “Don’t change your diet, just take a pill and you lose 50 lbs!” or “Lose weight without breaking a sweat!” or even things like “Take this supplement and gain 10 lbs of muscle without even trying!”. It’s sad that we’re such a nation of immediate gratification. The question I always ask myself is that even if it did work that easily, what has really changed? I would still be the same person and would have learned NOTHING from the experience of changing myself to change my body.

I guess I believe in the holistic approach. There is something that you learn from changing your life that keeps you from going back to the way you used to be. Whether its an addiction, a bad habit, or whatever. Maybe that’s why I get so annoyed when I see companies pushing for a quick fix. Everyone wants to be rich NOW, healthy NOW, fabulous NOW… whatever happened to working hard for something?

In order for a lasting change to take effect, you have to decide to change. A pill doesn’t change who you are inside. A pill may help you with some physical appearance issues, but you’ll still be you. So take the REAL approach. Start by learning to change some of your habits so that in the process of becoming a new you physically, you become a new you in every other way as well.

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I think reading success stories in any area is great. It’s always encouraging to see other people achieving great things, even the things that I am trying to accomplish as well.

So what about becoming your own success story? When you approach each day, are you consciously thinking about how reaching your goals is going to make you into a success story as well? This can be a very powerful thing that I would encourage everyone to try. It’s really a matter of mind-set: do you believe that you can accomplish what you’ve set out to do?

There are a lot of times when I think “What separates the people who accomplish things from those that don’t?” I don’t think I have a perfect answer, but one thing that I’ve learned from reading and watching people is that the people that reach their goals and accomplish more in their lives have this sense of confidence around them. They believe that they can do it. They also don’t let others get in the way of what they believe they can accomplish. Those are skills that we have to incorporate if we are going to succeed ourselves.

Will it happen overnight? Probably not. But with the right attitude anything is possible. If you’re really looking to change your life in terms of your overall health and fitness, give it the time and attention that it deserves. Develop the determination and positive self image that it will take to reach those goals. And then become your own success story!

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I think that most of us are guilty of this, so let me explain what I’m talking about today with a bit of a story:

Bob is getting ready to do his next set of barbell bench presses. He’s been feeling pretty good, doing a weight that is good for his level of fitness. Randomly, several other people start coming over to the benches to do their sets as well. The first thing that Bob notices is that these other guys are putting up more weight than he is. In fact, when he looks at his barbell it looks tiny compared to some of these guys.

What do you think Bob does next? He adds more weight so that he doesn’t feel like such a weakling when people walk by and see his bar compared to the others.

WRONG CHOICE!

You see, what Bob has done is he’s let his ego get in the way of his own fitness level and what he should be doing. He’s allowed himself to worry about what others might think when they walk by rather than focusing on what he should be doing for himself. This is a very dangerous thing to do.

When you walk into the gym, leave your ego at the door. Heck, leave it in the car or somewhere at home. When you come to work out, are you there to impress somebody or are you just working to build your best body? Different people in the gym will be at different levels. You need to work out at your level, not someone else’s.

So do yourself a favor. Next time you start to get intimidated by what others are throwing around, just smile and say to yourself “I’m on my way. In fact, given enough time I’ll be able to do MORE than that!” Then just keep going with your plan. Don’t let your ego get in the way.

Also, as a side note, guys are not the only ones that are guilty of this. Women will do the same thing, maybe just in a different way. Either way its the same bug.  Don’t let it catch you!

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